


Heart of Ice

by sunset_skywings_hungergames



Category: CLATO - Fandom, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, the 74th hunger games
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-13 00:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18021764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunset_skywings_hungergames/pseuds/sunset_skywings_hungergames
Summary: Not all Careers are heartless.





	Heart of Ice

Prologue (Clove)  
Disclaimer: I do not own the original hunger games characters (clove, cato, etc), idea, or excerpts from the actual book. They belong to Suzanne Collins.   
Disclaimer 2: I used Sevina for Clove's last name bc i saw on fandom about her last name and saw Sevina was fitting. Also im using Hadley for Cato's last name bc i searched that up too xd  
7 years old  
I walked down towards the Academy while thinking about food. My family was extremely poor; we lived in the worst part of the village. We were running out of objects to trade at the black market, and me and Nutmeg's hunting barely supplied enough food. Currently, I was daydreaming about biting into a huge loaf of bread. My mouth started watering at the thought. Suddenly, my fantasies were interrupted by a loud voice behind me. "Move it, idiot!" Victoria, a nine year old at the Academy snarled. Her fellow nines snickered. She pushed me aside roughly and stalked past arrogantly. As the group strode past me, I saw one of the boys-the good looking one-giving me a sympathetic look. He saw me staring, and quickly looked away.  
Later that day at the Academy, while I was practicing throwing knives, the same boy came up to me. "Wow, How did you learn to throw so well?" he asked. I thought back to when my father was a drunk, when he drank to forget what had happened in the arena he was in. I didn't want to think about those times, so I replied,"Just a hobby." "Look, I'm sorry about what Victoria did earlier. She can be..." he started. "Stupid?" I suggested, and he laughed. "Cato, get back over here!" Victoria shrieked from the other side of the room, and he dashed off. So Cato was his name. It was a good name, I decided. "Sorry," Cato said once more, and hurried back.   
"How was training?" my mother asked over dinner. "Oh, the usual," I replied, not mentioning Cato. "I think my knife throwing skills are improving." "That's nice," Nutmeg, my older sister said. "I can't wait until you become a victor!" We all chuckled, and my father patted my head. 

A Few Weeks Later  
Again, I was at the knife throwing station. Katelyn, the head instructor announced, "It's time for the monthly combat competition!" A cheer came up from Victoria's group. Inwardly, I groaned. Each month, the Academy would hold a hand to hand combat competition. My small size already put me at a disadvantage, and this year, I was in the 7-9 group, meaning I was one of the youngest fighters. "The pairings are listed on the bulletin board, and the competition starts tomorrow morning." Katelyn concluded, and everyone rushed to see who they were to fight. Fortunately, I was assigned to fight Laurel, another seven year old who specialized in the bow and arrow. When I looked towards her, she smiled shyly at me. Laurel was about the same size as me, so Katelyn must have really wanted the pairings to be fair.  
"To make up for size and strength, you must have skill and agility," Vienna, my private coach, instructed. "Now, dodge this spear!" She flung a blunt spear at me, and it bounced off my stomach. "Ow!" I yelled, and hurled a knife at her. Vienna dodged it expertly. That made me angrier, and I stormed away.  
"Omph," the eight year old grunted as I flung him to the ground. "The winner is...Clove!" Katelyn announced. I can't believe it! I made it to the finals! "She will be facing Cato next week for the finals!' My heart sank. There was no way I could defeat him. Unless..  
"Teach me everything you know about close up combat," I said to my sister. At eleven years old, Nutmeg was already the best fighter among her bunch, and everyone expected her to become a victor. "Who are you fighting?" she asked. "Cato, and I need to beat him," I replied casually. "Why are you so obsessed with-ohh," a sly grin crept up Meg's face. Uh-oh. This can't be good. "Clove has a little cru-ush!" She said in a singsong voice. "No,I don't," I denied quickly. " I just want to win, that's all." "He's the strong one with the blond hair and green eyes, right?" "Blue eyes," I corrected automatically. "See? You do like him," Nutmeg grinned. "I approve. He'll make a good partner." I felt my cheeks turning red. "I DO NOT LIKE CATO!" I nearly screamed. People turned to look at us. "Clove and Cato, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-" "Cut that out," I hissed; Cato was approaching. "Hey, Clove, ready to lose?" he smirked. "Speak for yourself Cato," I retaliated. "All you do is follow Victoria around like a puppy." "For a mouse like you, you certainly have a big mouth." I clenched my jaw as Cato laughed and sauntered away. "Aw, it's so cute how you two insult each other!" Nutmeg exclaimed as soon as Cato was out of earshot. "Shut up and start teaching me," I growled.  
* * *  
By the day of the finals, I was I was eating some grapes while watching the two scrawny six-year-olds struggling to fight. "So," Vienna said. "Nutmeg told me about you and Cato." The grape in my hand in my hand was reduced to smithereens, and I almost fell onto the student sitting in front of me. "She what?!" I gave Nutmeg a withering look. "You need to get your emotions under control," Vienna continued. "Nutmeg has reported that you two sneak off to places and flirt a lot. Honestly, Clove. You're only seven!" "Well, it looks like Nutmeg's going to have a long chat with my knives tonight," I said with gritted teeth. "Or maybe we can start right now." "Now, from the 7-9 division, we have Cato and Clove!" Katelyn announced. As the they got a good look at us, the audience murmured uneasily. How could such a small seven win against a sturdy nine? Apparently Katelyn was thinking the same thing, so she said, "Um, for this particular fight, both participants will be able to use one weapon of their choice. Just don't kill each other. Ready, set, FIGHT!"  
I dashed over to the knife section and picked one up. Cato simply stood and grinned. "I think I'll go easy on you," he said. I responded by throwing a knife at his foot and tackling him. I had Cato pinned down when I saw how blue his eyes were. Startled, I loosened my grip, giving Cato a chance to spring up. A cheer came from Victoria's group. Luckily, the training I had done with Nutmeg paid off. I blocked his punch, and made a small cut on his neck. "Ouch!" Cato yelped, and staggered back. Then, I kicked him to the ground and pressed my knife to his neck. "Not so mousy now, am I?" I hissed at him. Cato managed to give me an arrogant look. I pressed the knife down harder. A few drops of blood appeared. "Enough!" Katelyn's voice appeared next to me. She pulled me off of Cato, and the audience booed. They wanted to see more blood. "The winner for the 7-9 category is Clove Sevina!" A few people-mostly the instructors-clapped halfheartedly. Students at the Academy-save for Nutmeg- saw me as the deranged knife girl and avoided me. Needless to say, they hated me and had wanted Cato to win. Katelyn handed me a small medal and $50 of prize money, and I hurried back to my seat to watch the next fight.  
* * *  
"I'm happy that you won, Clove," my father said. "I was watching you from the doorway." "Thank you," I muttered. Of course he was glad. The money I brought home (Nutmeg won too, so we had $100 in total) would let our whole family eat well for a few weeks, and my father could buy himself a bottle of beer. "Although," he added. "I saw how you look at that boy you were fighting. Love is dangerous, Clove. It almost got me killed in the arena." "I'm not in love," I said angrily. "Why does everyone think I like Cato?!" My father sighed. "Keep a heart of ice, Clove, and no one can hurt you."

End of Prologue


End file.
